Shanghai restaurant closes day after getting Michelin starA Shanghai restaurant has closed down a day after being awarded a Michelin star, reportedly because it lacked the necessary licences to operate.
The Taian Table, which opened in April and served Western dishes, was described by Michelin as "graceful" and praised for its "clever recipes".
But neighbours living above had complained of kitchen smoke and noise.
The restaurant - one of 26 in the cit...

Opposition rejects Gabon court's ruling on Ali Bongo election wiGabonese opposition leader Jean Ping has said a constitution court ruling which upheld President Ali Bongo's election victory was "unjust".
Mr Ping called for his supporters to "remain vigilant and mobilised". There have been concerns about violent protests following the court ruling.
To ease tension Mr Bongo offered to include opposition members in his cabinet.
He came to power in 2009 when hi...

Clinton is right about 'deplorables': Christian SchneiderWhen Hillary Clinton declared half of Donald Trump's supporters to be a "basket of deplorables," it did more than provide my fantasy football team with a sensational name. It also exposed Trump supporters — many of whom Clinton described accurately — as having glass chins, dropping to the canvas as soon as Clinton grazed them with a right-cross.
Within 48 hours, Trump released a television ad d...

Black outreach only a birther could loveImagine if Barack Obama were running for president now. Struggling at the polls after a clumsy convention featuring the combined star power of one 1980s sitcom actor and one 1990s underwear model, he decides to shake things up by reaching out directly to white voters.
“You’re obese,” he growls. “You sit so much it’s killing you. More of you are dying of opiates than from guns or car accidents. ...

Call the GOP's bluff on Merrick GarlandPresident Obama's job approval rating in the latest Washington Post-ABC News Poll stands at a robust 53%. Other recent polls from Monmouth University and CNN/ORC respectively show a 56% and 54% approval rating. He should use this political capital to pressure the Senate on his Supreme Court nominee.
While Obama's popularity at this stage of his presidency closely mirrors the second terms of Pre...

Hillary Clinton stands up to 'moment of reckoning'Hillary Clinton claimed her position in history Thursday night along with the Democratic presidential nomination and the responsibility to keep Donald Trump out of the White House.
“America is once again at a moment of reckoning,” she said in her acceptance speech in Philadelphia.
Trump, the Republican nominee, rarely goes a day without upending the norms of civility or flouting the Constitu...

Listen to the Baton Rouge police killer: Tavis SmileyHow many more disaffected black men have to self-radicalize before we take their claims seriously?
I think the chances are pretty good that the White House just days from now will announce that President Obama intends to travel to Baton Rouge to pay tribute to the slain police officers there. I could be wrong, but I can't imagine him not going now, even though he ignored calls for a presidenti...

Don't hike Social Security benefitsAfter an unexpectedly difficult primary campaign, and more than a month of waiting since she claimed the Democratic nomination, presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is expected to finally get the backing of Bernie Sanders at a joint appearance Tuesday in New Hampshire.
This is, no doubt, a relief to her. But in winning the nomination and Sanders' endorsement, she has shifted a numbe...

Political spin launched first: Opposing viewOn Sept. 11, 2012, four Americans died in Benghazi, Libya, from a terrorist attack. This tragedy was compounded by the obsession of the White House and the State Department, under then-secretary Hillary Clinton, with preserving a political narrative. They placed politics over American lives.
It is clear the Obama administration was deeply committed to its Libya strategy. National security was a...

he damn-the-torpedos allure of 'Brexit'VENICE — "Brexit" might well be the end of the world as we know it.
That’s certainly the view from this sun-washed Adriatic paradise in the south of Europe and indeed on much of the rest of the continent of the choice facing British voters. On Thursday, they will go to the polls to decide whether to remain in the European Union or exit it, the first binding stay-or-leave vote by a member nation...